Combined wire stretching and splicing apparatus



April 22 1924. 3,491,634}

D. L. DUDEN ET AL COMBINED WIRE STRETCHING AND SPLICI NG APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1923 I v Z4 l m L WITNESSES 11v VEN TOR J1: .17 MZZZ ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 22, 1924.

J ATE-73* navrn n-rnunm -aivn EDWIN? s. TEAL, or, cnn'rnr rown, ivrrssounr.

oolyrrmnn WIRYIQFSIREEQHING nn, srjrrcr ve APPABAIIUS.

Application filed May 4, 1923 Serial- Ne. 636,662.

T e' above andother. objects -will appear more e a'i'ly from; the? following detail "descri'p'tion," when taken in connection, with the accompanying drawing, which illustrafiS,.-a. preferred.-Q I bodiment of the inventivegidea. i

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the apparatus, partly broken away and shown in section;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of the wire clamping devices employed in connection with the invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fi re 1; and

igure 3 is a side elevation of the splicing head, forming a part of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing, the numeral 5 indicates a sleeve member through which extends a shaft or rod 6 rotatable and movable in said sleeve member and provided adjacent one end thereof with an enlarged portion having ratchet teeth 8 which cooperate with similar teeth 9 formed upon the adjacent end of the sleeve member 5 for a purpose which will appear in the course of the description. The shaft 6 is also enlarged at the extremity adjacent the portion 7 to provide a splicing head 10 having oppositely disposed openings 11 therein which are arranged diagonally in the head and converge at the outer end thereof so as to receive the extremities 12 of two lengths of wire which are to be stretched and spliced.

Intermediate the ends of the sleeve member 5 the same is provided with a laterally mediate portion ofa fiexibleelement, such as" aropef1 4 is adapted to be looped;- The rope'is then wound-about the sleeve member and the extremities 15ther'eof then extend-ed in oppositedirectionsf Each extremity .15

device 16? which may be of any desiredrconstrriction and which 1 is; adaptedJ-to be gattached: 'to one of' "the Y wiresnto beistretchecl at a fsuitalole distance from; the extremifty12 has fixedthereto a suitable wire clamping thereof; To-stret'ch thetwo lengths -of wi-re preparatory to sp1icing;,-th eextremitiesaor meeting ends togetherjtheappanatu's-ineludes a handle 17" slidably 'monnted upcn the end: of-the, shaft 6 remote-from;the head 10;" and: provided.- with-oppositely disposed lugs 18 for engaging in not0hTes-19 formed in the adjacent end of tl ie; sleeve-member 5. The-handle 17 is yieldably maintained in interengagjement with; th'ej 'sleeve member 5 by means ofa coil spring 20 interposedbe- 5- tweenthe. handle 1 7-Tand a second-handle 21 mounted upon a squared? portion 2210f the shaft: 6 and-fretainedi in engagement thereon by a nut 23. After the wire clamps 16 have been attached to the wires to be stretched and the rope 14 has been properly coiled about the sleeve member 5, as shown in Figure 1, a rotation ofthe handle 17 in the direction indicated by'the upper arrow in said figure will "wind the extremities 15 of the rope 14 upon the sleeve member 5, thus drawing the adjacent ends of the wires together, thereby stretching the same. In thus stretching the wires the entire device is rotated bodily until the desired tension is attained.

To splice the extremities 12 of the wires while the tension thereon is being maintained, said extremities are each introduced into one of the openings 11 of the splicing head. The handle 21 is then rotated in the direction indicated by the lower arrow in Figure 1 to revolve the shaft 6 and, consequently. the splicing head 10 to twist or splice the extremities 12, as indicated at 24, at the same time stretching the wires between the pointsto which the clamping devices 16 are attached. The rotation of the shaft 6 is now relative to the sleeve member 5 and in revolving the ratchet'teeth 8 of the portion 7 will move freely over the teeth 9, but will be held in yielding engagement therewith by the coil spring 20 which exerts an outward pressure upon the handle 21. However, the teeth 8 and 9 will prevent a movement of the shaft in an opposite direction, thus permitting the operator to readily manipulate the handle 21 when forming the splice.

After the wires have been stretched and spliced and it is desired to detach the apparatus therefrom, it is desirable that the tension under which the rope 14: has been placed by the stretching action be relieved so as to permit the clamps 16 to be detached from the wires. This is accomplished by moving the handle 17 longitudinally of the shaft 6 and toward the handle 21 against the tension of the spring 20 so as to disengage the lugs 18 from the notches 19. When this is done the tension on the rope 14 is relieved and'the sleeve member 5 will be free to rotate in an opposite direction from that indicat-ed by the upper arrow in Figure 1 and relative to the shaft 6 to loosen the coils of the rope extending thereabout. The splicing head 10 may then be withdrawn from engagement with the extremities 12 of the wires and the lugs 18 reengaged with the notches 19 preparatory to another opera tion of the device. What is claimed is 1. In a wire stretcher and'splicer, a sleeve member, a flexible element coiled about said sleeve member and having its extremities adapted for connection to wires to be spliced, a shaft mounted in said sleeve member and rotatable therein in one direction only, a splicing headformed upon said shaft and to which the extremities of said wires are connected, an operating handle for said sleeve for rotating the same to wind said flexible element thereon whereby said wires are stretched, and a second operating handle carried by said shaft for rotating the same in said sleeve member to splice the extremities of the wires which are stretched by the rotation of said sleeve member.

2. in a wire stretcher and splicer, a sleeve member, a flexible element coiled about said sleeve member and having its extremities adapted for connection to wires to be spliced, a shaft mounted in said sleeve member and rotatable therein in one direction only, a splicing head formed upon said shaft and to which the extremities of said wires are connected, an operating handle for said sleeve for rotating the same to wind said flexible element thereon whereby said wires are stretched, second operating handle carried by said shaft for rotating the same in said sleeve member to splice the extremities of the wires whichv are stretched by the rotation of said sleeve member, and means interposed between said handles for yieldably maintaining the first named handie in interengagement with said sleeve member.

DAVID L. DUDENQ EDWIN s. TEAL. 

